


Body of Frustration

by scribblenubbin



Series: Body of Romance - Megan and Kate [3]
Category: Body of Proof
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-22
Updated: 2012-09-22
Packaged: 2017-11-14 19:53:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/518929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribblenubbin/pseuds/scribblenubbin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate is getting more and more annoyed with herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Body of Frustration

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted under 'halfbloodme' at LiveJournal

“There you are,” Kate was tired and angry with herself as she initiated the conversation with Megan. “Piaseki-Chapman murder-suicide.”

  
“Alleged murder-suicide, yes?” Megan said taking off her sunglasses and making Kate’s knees go weak. This really wasn’t helping.

  
“Get Ethan and Curtis to help you. I want this handled quickly and efficiently.” Every time Kate spoke to Megan these days she could feel her desire for the other woman growing stronger and it was getting harder to mentally shake herself.

  
“When do I ever do otherwise?” Megan turned round to Peter, giving Kate a second to steady herself.

  
“Well then, I have nothing to worry about, do I?” Kate stated as Megan smiled and walked away.

  
While Megan walked away, Kate took a deep breath, she hoped that Peter didn’t notice. How on earth was she meant to keep working with her subordinate if all she wanted to do was jump into bed with her? Wait, where had that thought come from? She had a crush, a crush didn’t mean wanting to jump into bed with someone, did it?

  
“Just out of curiosity it’s not a coincidence that we pulled Morris and Baker, is it?” Peter asked her, snapping Kate out of her thoughts.

  
“I spoke to their lieutenant, we agree that you four seem to work well together. Unless you think otherwise?” There was a challenge in Kate’s tone.

  
“I think if you’re trying to break Megan it won’t work.” Peter was being overly protective of her, or so it seemed to Kate.

  
“I’m not trying to break her; I’m trying to contain her. It’s better to knock heads with two detectives than the entire Philadelphia Police Department.” Kate answered firmly. Was he second guessing her decisions? 

  
She walked away from Peter and headed for her office. What was going on there? Were Peter and Megan

closer than just co-workers? Kate shook her head and tried to pull herself together. As she entered her office, she closed the door and headed for her desk and the pile of paperwork that sat there. The only way she could force her thoughts elsewhere was to get through the mountain that she was required to deal with daily. The first thing that was on her pile was the statement of procedures that had been used within the past month. As she turned it over she sighed. So much for not thinking about the brunette that was plaguing her thoughts and her dreams. It looked like once again Megan had been ordering tests that other Medical Examiners wouldn’t have. Either Kate needed to obtain a bigger budget or she needed to find a way to curb Megan’s spending habits and neither of those seemed like a likely possibility.

  
***

  
Kate was talking to Mr and Mrs Chapman about their daughter, and the Morgue’s latest victim, Linda, when Megan had walked past and joined them without invitation. Kate wasn’t sure whether to be angry at her or pleased that she had joined them. She couldn’t help but notice the fact that her employee was wearing a skirt that showed off two perfect legs, and the fact that Megan’s lab coat was slightly oversized which made her look incredibly sexy. Kate forced the thoughts from her mind as she listened to what Megan had to say to the Chapmans. It would not be good to be caught by a grieving family, or indeed by Megan, eyeing her up. As Megan asked about Linda’s past, Kate watched to make sure that the line of questioning wasn’t insensitive; she knew that they needed the information, but Megan’s brusqueness often took the place of much needed social etiquette. It was one of the many things Kate liked about Megan personally, but it had no place in their line of work.

  
Cutting off Megan to allow the parents more time to come to terms with what was happening and to let them escape was a difficult decision, but Kate knew that she had to remain objective, and if it had been any other Medical Examiner, she would have stopped the line of questioning before it began. Kate couldn’t help but indulge Megan. She knew that the other woman worked hard to be the best she could and to bring a sense of peace to the people that came across her table. The dead needing justice was obviously Megan’s philosophy, and Kate couldn’t help but smile inwardly at that. It was after all her opinion of things as well. The Chapmans left and Kate looked at Megan. She could see the annoyance on the other woman’s face and it made her want to sigh with frustration but she held it in, instead choosing to talk about the case.

  
“So where are the police on this?” Kate purposefully kept her voice steady and calm. It was slightly lower than usual, although that wasn’t deliberate.

  
“Running down Dave and Linda’s last meal.” Megan kept walking out of the door, showing signs of not wanting to be there.

  
“I saw healed Mallory-Weiss tears on the pre-lim. Maybe you and Peter should go and find this Bryan Hall and see what Linda was really doing to herself.” She was giving Megan permission as she said it, wanting to encourage her.

  
“Hmm. Exactly what I was thinking.” The small smile that was almost a smirk made Kate’s knees threaten to buckle.

  
As Megan left, Kate smiled and half rolled her eyes. She turned to the table to pick up the file she had left there and stopped for a moment. Megan was infuriating, troublesome, definitely the sort of employee that would drive others to distraction with annoyance, but Kate found her tenacity endearing. She sighed, picked up the file and headed for her office, time to head back to the mountain of paperwork.

  
***

  
An hour and a half later and Kate hadn’t gotten any further than the statement of procedures that was still on her desk. Every time she looked at it, she thought of Megan. Thought of those eyes, the way they could light up with a triumph or darken with annoyance at being reigned in. Those beautiful hands, so delicate and skilled, even when Megan was trying to hide the fact that they would freeze on her every now and again, particularly when she was frustrated. Kate loved to stare at those hands when she thought Megan wasn’t looking. They were beautiful, the way they held a scalpel, the way Megan would use them to tuck her hair behind her ear when she thought that no one was looking, the way that they moved effortlessly across a keyboard when typing reports. Kate found herself lost in the image of Megan’s hands. Her mind wandered to what other skill was to be found in those dextrous fingers. Kate slipped back in her chair and closed her eyes. Behind the closed lids, Kate’s mind wandered to a place she would never ordinarily let it go to at work, but she couldn’t help it and she certainly found no inclination to stop it.   
In her mind’s eye, she saw Megan walk into her office, close the door and lock it. Completely uninvited and yet completely welcome. Megan’s eyebrow rose as she moved towards Kate’s desk. There was a playful look on her face and it made Kate quiver inside, both fantasy and real life Kate’s stomachs turned over at the suggestion that lay in that expression. Without saying a word, fantasy Megan moved around the desk and sat on its edge, just close enough for Kate to feel the heat of her body next to hers but not close enough for them to be touching. Kate looked up into those green eyes and smiled softly. Megan smiled back, her lips so very inviting.

  
 _”Dr Hunt, how may I help you?”_

_  
“Well, Dr Murphy I was hoping....”_

  
“Dr Murphy, Dr Murphy, there’s a phone call for you and it sounds urgent.” Kate’s assistant snapped her back to the real world and with an exasperated sigh she picked up the phone.

  
***

  
The next case progress meeting was a hard thing for Kate to swallow. She was trying to remain professional, the police were present and she couldn’t lose her objectivity but the unfinished fantasy was still on her mind. It didn’t matter that a day had gone by, she hadn’t been able to lose it and to see the cause of that fantasy so close to her and yet so completely unreachable was enough to make the normally calm and demure woman go slightly crazy. She took a deep breath before entering the room and then moved quickly to the head of the table.

  
“The thing you need to know about me, detectives, is when I promise something I deliver. And I promised the Chapman’s that they would have their daughter back soon, so where are we?” It was almost second nature to be forceful in the work place and Kate found it easy to come across this way, but she barely even listened to the detectives’ answers.

  
“And you?” She asked Megan, suddenly aware that her attention had been on her subordinate the entire time even if she hadn’t been looking at her directly.

  
Kate had been listening to Megan instead of the detectives. She had been listening to her breathing, peripherally watching her, noticing the way she moved and the way she cocked her head ever so slightly when she listened to the detectives. Kate sighed inwardly, something would have to be done about this and fast.

  
“Linda was bulimic. All signs are that it started when she hooked up with a restaurateur named Ryan Hall.” Kate tried not to focus on Megan’s lips as she spoke.

  
“You didn’t say anything about that yesterday.” Detective Bud Morris looked furious and the Chief Medical Examiner wanted to jump into defend Megan but it wasn’t necessary.

  
“We didn’t confirm bulimia until last night because her body’s had three months to recover from starving itself.” Megan wanted to roll her eyes, the man irritated her greatly.

  
“The same three months since she broke up with Hall.” Peter Dunlop added.

  
Kate nodded; she wanted to show her approval of what she was hearing. Wanted to show that her team were, in her eyes, completely capable. But she obviously hadn’t done that. Undetected by everyone else, it seemed, Kate noticed the way that Megan’s heckles went up as she nodded her approval. She noticed that Megan seemed to be fighting something. For the second time since this case had started, Kate wondered if Megan and Peter were more than just colleagues. He had, after all, just jumped to her defence, again. An irrational pang of jealousy hit Kate in that moment and she tried her hardest to push it down to where it could be ignored. It wasn’t like she and Megan were dating and it wasn’t like they ever could be.

  
***

  
When Megan came to Kate later with a case update, Kate knew there was something more behind the update but she didn’t say anything. This was the game they played, Megan would indulge Kate’s need to know exactly what was going on and in return she would request a favour that was out of the ordinary and not something she would ever hear from another Medical Examiner.

  
“It’s too bad you can’t get a print off the eyelid.” Kate said, humouring her employee.

  
“Well, I did a swab for DNA.” Kate turned to face Megan, curious as to why. “Hey, he must have been sweating to take off that much eye shadow, so if we’re lucky we may get a stray epithelial or two.” Megan shrugged and Kate wondered if there was anything the other woman didn’t think of when it came to forensic evidence.

  
“You still think it’s Bryan Hall?” Kate asked.

  
“It’s a theory, presuming his new girlfriend is lying for him, but in order to prove that, I’m gonna need your help.” Kate noted the way Megan looked at her hands and then smiled at her, almost like a school girl begging to be indulged.

  
Kate folded her arms and raised her eyebrows, a sign that she was listening and prepared to say no if needs be. But she already knew, just from the way Megan had acted so nervously, obvious nerves that hadn’t intentionally come out, that she wouldn’t refuse her. Megan was sweet when she was relaxed enough to show her true feelings and it made Kate’s heart pound heavily beneath the calm exterior she was showing.

  
***

  
It turned out the favour meant helping Bryan’s latest girlfriend, Nina, and Kate couldn’t deny that. She hated to see women that had gotten themselves into abusive relationships couldn’t find a way out. She instinctively wanted to protect them. Kate was aware that she was overly familiar with Nina, was aware of the minute change in Megan’s breathing. Was her employee disapproving of the physical contact she made with Nina? Why would it bother Megan how Kate reacted? It bothered Kate more than it should have done. If Nina hadn’t been there she would have questioned her. But Nina was there and even after the young woman left, Kate couldn’t find the words to challenge Megan with and so she told Megan she needed to find a new theory and left the room.

  
Kate headed back to her office, she told her assistant that she did not want to be disturbed under any circumstances and locked the door to her office as it closed behind her. Balling her hands into fists in anger she turned, leaned against the door and slid down it. As she reached the floor, Kate’s head came to rest in her hands. This had gotten beyond a joke. She needed to find a distraction, needed to stop thinking about Megan, the sooner the better. The tall blonde took a few deep breaths and stood once again. She headed for her desk drawer and pulled out her contacts book. She smiled to herself as she realised that it really was a little black book, but when buying it she had reasoned with herself that it was elegant, smart and small enough to fit in her purse. Flicking through the pages, Kate found herself having to ignore the ‘H’ pages all together. There, in the ‘K’ pages she found the person she was looking for, the person who wouldn’t mind a night or two of helping her relieve her tension so that she could focus on work.


End file.
